So you think having a DI team would be fun? Want to watch unlimited creativity unfold? Ready to be awed by what kids can accomplish ON THEIR OWN? Here’s what you need to do…
Contact your school
Talk to your school administration! Set up an appointment to meet with the principal to explain what DI will bring to the students.
There is a LOT of information that you can share about why DI is the perfect program for kids in your school. For example, here’s a link to a document on the NH-DI web site that explains the DI process, and how it fits perfectly with today’s educational standards.
We have a lot more available! Contact us at questions@nh-di.org, and we’ll be happy to help.
Costs (2012-2013)
Many schools cover the cost of the DI program (outlined below). In other communities, each team member pitches in to cover the costs. Just what are those costs, and what are they for?
- The Team Pack registration to obtain program materials (from Destination Imagination headquarters):$135 for one competitive team (grade 3 and above)$390 for a 5-Team Pack (best deal for three or more teams at the same school)
$55 for each Rising Stars team (kindergarten through grade 2)
- Tournament registration (through NH-DI):
$125 per competitive team
$100 per non-competitive team (Rising Stars)
For a single competitive team, this would be $260 for registration fees. If you were to add $240 for supplies, team t-shirts, and Team Manager training, the total cost would be $500, or about $70 per team member with seven kids.
This is a bargain for an activity that challenges in ways no other program does, and engages the kids for four months or more. The cost would be even less if you have multiple teams, because of the savings from purchasing a five-team pack.
For one Rising Stars! team, the registration fees would be $155; add in supplies, team t-shirts and team manager training, and with 10 members, the per/child cost would be about $25.
Now what?
Word-of-mouth would probably suffice to recruit enough members for a single DI team. However, many more children will have the opportunity to try DI if you can get the word out to all of the other parents at your school.
In order to do this, you’ll want to schedule a DI Information Night at your school. Allow two to three weeks to send flyers home, get on the school website, make announcements, put a blurb in the community newspaper, post notices at the town library–you get the idea. Let lots of people know, and you’ll have a good turnout.
When you decide on a date, please let us know! We can often arrange to have some experienced NH-DI volunteers attend your DI Night to talk about the program with the parents, and organize some fun activities for the kids.
Have a registration form available for parents and kids to fill out and return; give a deadline of a week or two. Be sure to ask parents to help by being team managers, appraisers, gofers, etc. Sample forms that you can customize are available here.
And then?
Put your team(s) together based on registration forms (if you used them) or general interest expressed by families you know. Have at least one Team Manager per team (two would be even better).
Talk with your Team Managers about attending training! Newbie training (JUST for the new Team Managers) will be held October 27 in Pembroke. The cost is $35 per team, no matter how many managers for that team attend.
As an added bonus, any or all of those new managers attending New Team Manager (or “Newbie”) training can attend the much larger Team Manager Café on November 17 in Penacook free of charge! There are lots of workshops offered and plenty of people to talk to, so that all Team Managers will be comfortable in their new and exciting role. If Newbie training in October does not fit on their schedule, there is a Newbie track at the Café in November as well.
What if…
You get stuck? Have a question? Don’t know what to do next? Worry not–we are here to support you, and only an email or a phone call away. In fact, if you come to our Newbie training, you will leave knowing EXACTLY who to rely upon to know the answer, or find it out for you.
More resources…
Click for step-by-step information about starting a team.